2015 was a great year for music in my eyes. Tyler, Earl, Kendrick, Tame, Vince and a gang of other people all dropped great albums. All of the albums mentioned marked a new direction in artistry for the musicians and cemented their place in their discography whether you liked them or not. Cherry Bomb is very divisive within Tyler’s fan base.  Some people (like me) love this album, but other people hated this album. Many, many critics wrote about how the album is messy and jumbled. Getting off to a rocky start and relying heavily on how eccentric the production is, while the rapping doesn’t hold up its end of the deal. But, uh, who gives a shit what they think. This album is fucking amazing. First off, Tyler was at a great space creatively when this album was made. He was wearing really bright clothes and GOLF was releasing some of its best creations. The flame print button-up, the go-kart tee, the peach and mint crewnecks too. The Cherry Bomb insignia was everywhere. Coachella, his live performance on Kimmel, and literally everywhere else. Tyler burned that shit into your head and I loved every second of it. So, when the album came out I was a good fourteen years old. The excitement I had for this album to drop is still embedded into my spirit five years later. He started the album off with DEATHCAMP aka my absolute favorite Tyler song. The energy that this song brings out of me is ridiculous. Who starts a rap album off with a punk rock-centered song? It was so different from anything I’d heard up until that point. The closest was NERD and I was/still am in love with them so liking this song didn’t take long at all. This album is special because some songs sound like you’re listening through busted speakers, while others sound so clean and pristine. PILOT sounds like a record that you’ve had for decades, but you love it so much that you can’t give it up. And I wouldn’t blame you, that giant bassline, those synths, the drums and Syd’s voice?? Fuck! I used to play this album in the car with my mom on my way to school and usually she doesn’t like anything I play, but FIND YOUR WINGS was a breakthrough. It reminded her of the neo-soul songs we used to listen to together when I was a kid. Voodoo and the Brown Sugar soundtrack and shit. This song is beautiful, Tyler made one of the most inspirational songs ever and its so pleasing to the ear. It serves as like the eye of the hurricane to this album so far because the build-up is sort of chaotic. Whenever I tell people that this is Tyler’s best album the song CHERRY BOMB is always brought up. The mixing and how jumbled it sounds are often the main points. I don’t give a fuck about none of that. This song is fire and so much fun to yell and dance to. Then, it gets even better when the hidden track FIRECRACKER comes in. Its almost impossible to not nod your head. Not to yada-yada the rest of the album, but this shit is so fucking fire. Who else you know that can have Wanya-Fucking-Morris singing his heart out about eating a girl out? And like he’s singing-singing too. SMUCKERS contains maybe the best Kanye and Wayne verses we’ve gotten in years and KEEP DA O’S sees Pharrell bring out Skateboard P for a little cameo too. Then, one of the best songs these two ears have ever heard ends the album. OKAGA, CA is the ultimate love song man. It feels like you’re sitting on a hill with someone you’ve been trying to hangout with for a long time and the sun is going down, but you don’t want the day to end. You just want to be with them forever and they feel the same! The drums, piano, and Leon Ware’s heartfelt vocals warms my heart. God, this album is damn near perfect…damn near. BUFFALO is a low point, but other than that? Perfecto.

Listen to Cherry Bomb

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